Verse 1
Jesu, thou hast bid us pray,
Pray always, and not faint,
With the word a power convey
To utter our complaint,
Quiet will we[1] never know
Till we from sin are fully freed:
O avenge us of our foe,
And bruise the serpent’s head.

Verse 2
We have now begun to cry,
And we will never end
Till we find salvation nigh,
And grasp the sinner’s friend:
Day and night we’ll speak our woe,
With thee importunately plead:
O avenge us, &c.

Verse 3
Speak the word, and we shall be
From all our bands releas’d,
Only thou canst set us free,
By Satan long opprest;
Now thy power Almighty shew,
Arise, the woman’s conquering seed:
O avenge us, &c.

Verse 4
To destroy his work of sin
Thyself in us reveal,
Manifest thyself within
Our flesh, and fully dwell
With us, in us here below;
Enter, and make us free indeed:
O avenge us, &c.

Verse 5
Stronger than the strong-man thou
His fury canst controul;
Cast him out by entering now,
And keep our ransom’d soul;
Satan’s kingdom overthrow,
On all the powers of darkness tread:
O avenge us, &c.

Verse 6
Shall he still the souls enthrall
For whom thy life was given?
Hast thou not beheld him fall
As lightening out of heaven?
Hitherto allow’d to go,
He now no farther shall proceed:
O avenge us, &c.

Verse 7
To the86 never-ceasing cries
Of thine elect attend,
Send deliverance from the skies,
Thy mighty Spirit send;
Tho’ to man thou seemest slow,
Our cries thou seemest not to heed:
O avenge us, &c.

Verse 8
Come, O come all-gracious Lord,
No longer now delay,
With thy Spirit’s two-edg’d sword
The crooked serpent slay;
Bare thine arm, and give the blow,
Root out, and kill the hellish seed:
O avenge us, &c.

Verse 9
High enthron’d at God’s right-hand
Thou dost in glory sit,
Till whoe’er thy sway withstand,
Indignantly submit;
Yes, they all shall be brought low,
They all shall be thy footstool made:
O avenge us, &c.

Verse 10
Jesu, hear thy Spirit’s call,
Thy bride who bids thee come:
Come thou righteous judge of all,
Pronounce the tempter’s doom;
Doom him to infernal woe,
For him, and for his angels made;
Now avenge us of our foe,
Forever bruise his head.

[1] Wesley changed “Will we” to “Shalt thou” in 1745 and to “thou shalt” in 1756.